Nanocarbon particle based fuel additive

Abstract

A fuel additive composition has a base fuel; colloidal nanocarbon particles, and a dispersion stabilizer that aids in stably suspending the colloidal nanocarbon particles in the base fuel. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A combustion fuel additive for use in a fully formulated combustion fuel, the additive designed for improving the fully formulated combustion fuel's efficiency when the fuel combusts in an engine, the combustion fuel additive comprising:
 a) a base fuel for dispersion in the fully formulated combustion fuel; 
 b) colloidal nanodiamond particles, wherein the colloidal nanodiamond particles are dispersed in the base fuel; and 
 c) a surfactant dispersion stabilizer that aids in stably suspending the colloidal nanodiamond particles in the base fuel which surfactant dispersion stabilizer is dispersible in the fully formulated combustion fuel, 
 
       where the colloidal nanodiamond particles comprise nanodiamonds modified by at least one modification selected from the group consisting of: a wet phase chemical reaction, gas phase chemical reaction, a chemical reaction induced photochemically, a chemical reaction induced electrochemically, a chemical reaction induced mechanochemically, annealing, modification by exposure to a plasma, modification by irradiation, modification by exposure to sonic energy and a modification during a process of nanodiamond synthesis by introducing dopants or defects. 
     
     
       2. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the colloidal nanodiamond particles comprise at least one type of particle selected from the group consisting of: nanodiamonds, functionalized nanodiamonds, polycrystalline nanodiamonds, single crystal nanodiamonds, aggregates of nanodiamond primary particles, nanodiamonds surrounded by a sp 2  carbon shell, buckydiamonds, carbon onions containing a nanodiamond core, and detonation soot containing nanodiamonds. 
     
     
       3. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the colloidal nanodiamond particles further comprise carbon onions derived from nanodiamonds. 
     
     
       4. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the base fuel comprises at least one fluid selected from the group consisting of: liquid fuel, kerosene, gasoline, diesel fuel, marine fuel, avionic fuel, organic combustible liquid, alcohol fuel, hydrocarbon fuel, petroleum, liquid petroleum gas, coal tar, biofuel, biodiesel, phenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heterocyclic hydrocarbon compounds, renewable fuel, benzene, toluene, xylene, polybutenes, polyglycols, naphtha, fuel oil, naphthalene and fuel mixtures. 
     
     
       5. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the base fuel comprises at least one fuel selected from the group consisting of: kerosene, gasoline, mixture of oil and fuel, diesel fuel, naphtha and ethanol. 
     
     
       6. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the base fuel comprises at least one fluid selected from the group consisting of mineral oil, a synthetic oil, a semi-synthetic oil, a semi-synthetic severely hydro cracked oil, and a fully formulated oil. 
     
     
       7. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the nanodiamonds contain at least one material selected from the group consisting of:
 nanodiamond comprising carboxylic, hydroxylic, amine, hydrogen, fluorine-containing and halogen-containing surface groups. 
 
     
     
       8. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the dispersion stabilizer comprises a fluorine containing oligomeric dispersant. 
     
     
       9. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 8 , where the fluorine containing oligomeric dispersant comprises at least one dispersant selected from the group consisting of: a fluorine-containing monoester of alkylsuccinic acid, isomers of fluorine-containing monoester of alkylsuccinic acid and a fluorine-containing diester of alkylsuccinic acid. 
     
     
       10. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the base fuel comprises a solid fuel or gaseous fuel. 
     
     
       11. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the colloidal nanodiamond particle concentration in the fuel additive is between approximately 0.0001 wt % and 10 wt %. 
     
     
       12. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the colloidal nanodiamond particles are further combined with 1-dimensional or 2-dimensional nanocarbon-based materials. 
     
     
       13. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 12 , which further comprises nanocarbon-based materials comprising at least one material selected from the group consisting of: carbon nanotubes, graphene, oxidized graphene, graphite nanoplatelets and oxidized graphite nanoplatelets. 
     
     
       14. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the colloidal nanodiamond particles are combined with metal nanoparticles and metal oxide nanoparticles. 
     
     
       15. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , further comprising at least one component selected from the group consisting of: an antifriction component, an antiwear component, a cetane improver component, a lubricating component, a detergent component and a fuel catalyst component. 
     
     
       16. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 15 , where the colloidal nanodiamond particle concentration in the fuel additive is between approximately 0.0001 wt % and 10 wt %. 
     
     
       17. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 15 , where the colloidal nanodiamond particles are combined with 1-dimensional or 2-dimensional nanocarbon based materials. 
     
     
       18. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 17 , which further comprise one or more of the nanocarbon-based materials selected from the group consisting of: carbon nanotubes, graphene, oxidized graphene, graphite nanoplatelets and oxidized graphite nanoplatelets. 
     
     
       19. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 15 , which further comprises at least one metal catalyst or metal catalyst compound selected from the metal catalyst group consisting of: Mg, Ca, Ce, rare earth element, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Cr, Mn, Pt; or metal catalyst compound group consisting of metal oxide, metal carbonate, metal hydrocarbonate, metal sulfonate, metal hydroxide, metal carboxylate, nickel oleate, nickel naphthenate, nickel alkyl phenates, nickel alkyl sulfonate, nickel stearate. 
     
     
       20. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 19 , where the metal catalyst or metal catalyst compound comprises nanoparticles with average particle sizes from about 1 nm to 1000 nm. 
     
     
       21. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 15 , where the component comprises from 0.1 vol % to 90 vol % of the additive. 
     
     
       22. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the base fuel comprises a mixture of at least one fuel selected from the group consisting of Kerosene, gasoline, diesel fuel, naptha and ethanol; and at least one fluid selected from the group consisting of mineral oil, castor oil, a synthetic oil, a semi-synthetic oil, a semi-synthetic severely hydro cracked oil, and a fully formulated oil where the fuel to fluid ratio ranges from about 10:1 to about 100:1. 
     
     
       23. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 1 , where the majority of the base fuel has been evaporated. 
     
     
       24. The fuel additive composition combined with fully formulated combustion fuel according to  claim 1 , where the fuel comprises at least one liquid fuel selected from the group consisting of: kerosene, gasoline, diesel fuel, fully formulated gasoline fuel, fully formulated diesel fuel, marine fuel, avionic fuel, aviation fuel, jet fuel, organic combustible liquid, alcohol fuel, hydrocarbon fuel, fossil fuel, petroleum, liquid petroleum gas, coal tar, biofuel, biodiesel, phenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heterocyclic hydrocarbon compounds, renewable fuel, fuel mixtures, mixtures of fuel and oil, and fully formulated fuel. 
     
     
       25. A combustion fuel additive for use in a fully formulated combustion fuel, the additive designed for improving the fully formulated combustion fuel's efficiency when the fuel combusts in an engine, the combustion fuel additive comprising:
 a) a base fuel for dispersion in the fully formulated combustion fuel; 
 b) colloidal nanodiamond particles, wherein the colloidal nanodiamond particles are dispersed in the base fuel; and 
 c) a surfactant dispersion stabilizer that aids in stably suspending the colloidal nanodiamond particles in the base fuel which surfactant dispersion stabilizer is dispersible in the fully formulated combustion fuel, 
 
       where the dispersion stabilizer comprises at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of zwitterionic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants, ionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, anionic surfactants and steric surfactants. 
     
     
       26. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 25 , where the surfactant comprises at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of: cocamidopropyl betaine, sorbitan monoester, sorbitan diester, sorbitan trimester, sorbitan monostearate, sorbitan monooleate, sorbitan trioleate, glyceryl monoester, glyceryl monostearate, glyceryl monooleate, dioctylsulfosuccinate sodium salt, polyolefin alkyl phenol alkyl amine, polymerized fatty acids, N-acyl sarcosine, polyether, imidazoline, amides, polyamides and polyalkylene amine. 
     
     
       27. The fuel additive composition according to  claim 25 , where the dispersion stabilizer comprises a surfactant with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of approximately 1 to 40.